Xfm south Wales: GCap sells station to Town and Country Broadcasting

GCap Media's Xfm radio station in south Wales has been sold to local radio group Town and Country Broadcasting.

The six-month-old station will be rebranded Nation Radio and transferred out of Cardiff to its new owner's studios in Neath.

Jason Bryant, chairman and chief executive of Town and Country Broadcasting, which already owns five stations in Wales, said his new acquisition would be a "younger Virgin Radio" aimed at a mainstream audience of 15 to 44-year-olds.

"It makes us a big and real presence in the marketplace and gets us into Cardiff, which is obviously crucial for us," said Bryant, a former development director at Virgin Radio and managing director of TalkSport.

"We are very confident about making this into a big station. This is not a marginal station – this is going to be mainstream."

Bryant said it had been a strong year of growth for his company, with revenues in south Wales up around 30% year on year.

The switch of Xfm Wales to its new home in Neath, near Swansea, is expected to happen immediately. All of its programming will come out of the new base. The station is currently co-sited with GCap's Red Dragon in Cardiff.

GCap put all three of its Xfm stations outside of London up for sale in February, part of cost-cutting measures aimed at saving £9 million a year.

But it later ditched plans to sell its stations in Scotland and Manchester after the company's £375m buyout by Global Radio.

Town and Country Broadcasting was one of the bidders that originally applied for the south Wales FM licence in 2006, with a speech and easy listening service.

The new station will retain its current format under the terms of its existing licence and is expected to give prominence to established and up-and-coming Welsh music talent, including the Manic Street Preachers and Super Furry Animals.

Xfm south Wales will be the group's seventh station, joining a six-strong stable comprising Radio Pembrokeshire, Radio Carmarthenshire, Scarlet FM in Llanelli, Swansea Bay Radio and Bridge FM in Bridgend.

Town and Country Broadcasting also owns Radio Hampshire, based in Southampton, and Dragon Recruitment in Pembrokeshire.

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